Yannis Varoufakis: The Greek economy is finished …. This is our Great Depression

Australian Broadcasting Corporation

Broadcast: 18/06/2012

Reporter: Leigh Sales

With a pro-bailout and pro-austerity party claiming victory in the Greek election, economist Yanis Varoufakis joins us from Athens to reflect on what the result means for the economy and the Eurozone.

Transcript

LEIGH SALES, PRESENTER: Joining us now from Athens is the Greek economist Yanis Varoufakis.

The obvious question is: what happens now?

YANIS VAROUFAKIS, ECONOMICS, ATHENS UNIVERSITY: Well, the derailment of the train that is the eurozone, which started with Greece and then other carriages started leaving the tracks sequentially – Ireland, Portugal, now Spain – is continuing. And yesterday’s vote is not going to change that at all. All exuberance and celebrations are completely and utterly misplaced. I’m afraid that the eurozone and

Media Dictatorship in Greece

 

Al Jazeera’s feature on the Greek media in the video that follows, underlines the truth many have known in Greece for several years now. The fact that graffiti on walls says «switch off the TV» goes to show that Greeks no longer view news bulletins and journalists as objective.

The picture above was snapped during last year’s demonstrations at the end of May in Thessaloniki. It was one of many messages taped on columns outside the city’s symbol of pain and freedom, the White Tower, which translates to: «If TV said it, it’s probably a lie.»

Though links between political parties and the media have been common knowledge to Greeks, far too

Meet the Greek Leader Who Sent Global Markets Reeling

The man behind much of Tuesday’s market selloff is a 37-year-old Greek named Alexi Tsipras, the leader of the Coalition for the Radical Left.

Louisa Gouliamaki | AFP | Getty Images Left Coalition Party Leader, Alexis Tsipras

When handed the right to try and form a coalition government in Greece, he told the world that the Greek bailout agreement is “null and void” and should be abandoned.

This sent global markets reeling because he could potentially unleash a series of events that would force Greece to leave the euro zone.

Besides abandoning the bailout, Tsipras said he’d like to nationalize the banks permanently, restore all salaries and pensions to their previous higher levels and bring back collective bargaining rights.

Εκλογές 2012: πρώτο Exit Poll / Greek Elections 2012: First Exit Poll

Aπο το Exit Poll που ανακοινώθηκε στις 19.00 στην ΝΕΤ / Exit poll announced at 19.00 (Greek time) on NET channel (Greek public TV channel).

My Name is Spyros and I am a Malakas

Αυτό που θα’πρεπε να έκανε το Κατερινάκι ….. / What Katerina should’ve done ….

 

MySatelite

Money Aplenty for Politicians: Let the rest eak cake

Another €10 million dished out to Greek political parties

They got paid once for the upcoming elections by voting an amendment in the late hours of the night at the beginning of April. Not satisfied with the necks they sucked on the first time, the Greek vampire politicians are set to obtain extra funding to the tune of €10 million. Whatever the case may be, it was a contingency measure, you see.

The first time round, MPs voted to divert funds from debt installments owed to banks in order to finance political parties in view of the elections of May 6. The official explanation for the extra cash was  «in order to secure the conditions for continuity of political parties in the national elections.»

Yes, people were outraged, but who gives a cowpat over at the IMF or the European Commission? We

Suicides on the rise in Greece

What more does the world need to hear to rid themselves of the partial reality the paid media portray of  Greece? Or are suicide victims lazy Greeks who all couldn’t live with the thought of having to work for a living? Maybe they were all tax evaders who couldn’t find new ways to not pay their taxes?

But, let’s be serious for a minute. No one has the right to live if they’re called Greek. Greeks’ sole rights are to work to pay the government that hasn’t slashed their luxury salaries proportionately and has already written off political party debts to continue receiving tax-payer money to pay for their electoral campaigns (elections that haven’t been officially announced yet though newspapers worldwide proclaim that elections will take place) as well as continued perks. Greeks also have no right to elect their leaders, seeing as appointing the banker, Papademos,  who changed the books to fraudulently put Greece into the Euro is the best solution possible for everyone involved.

Naturally, most of the money that hasn’t been given to Greek banks so the latter can continue to spend

60.7% of Greek citizens want elections by February 19

As mentioned in MRB’s survey 60.7% of Greeks wants elections by February 19.

More specific, 34% says that the elections must be carried out on February 19, 27% soon after, 20.4% by the summer of 2012 and 11.8% at the end of the four years.

In the mean time, 55.1% has a negative impression on

Like a Phoenix from its Ashes

Yesterday’s scene in front of Parliament sums it all up. The old clashes with the new as the country is in flames.